As CMOs go full-force into planning mode for their 2012 marketing strategy , a recent report suggests that they are ill-prepared for the changes taking place in the larger business world. This is according to the Global Chief Marketing Officer survey from IBM. MORE

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” ” – General Eric Shinseki, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff. The media landscape has evolved tremendously over the last quarter century. MORE

I have been struggling with this dilemma for months. When you talk to most marketers and even the majority of business people, they get that the web , social media , mobile devices and the content we place on these channels are all important factors in driving real business results. MORE

The first step to great marketing is having a great marketing plan. However, not everyone bothers to plan – even though most agree that it is the foundation to successfully achieving your marketing objectives. MORE

It’s easy to get caught up in the buzz, and the hype, around social media. I’ve been working with many B2B companies to help them figure out when and how to use social media in their business. The answer is always a bit different depending on the product or service. MORE

When people ask me what I do, I usually give them my standard 15-second commercial; generate quality inbound leads and shorten sales cycles via lead generation, lead nurturing, and content marketing. I am also active on Google Plus. MORE

This week I was asked to speak on a panel about social media to a group of B2B marketers in financial services. It was great getting the perspective of marketers outside of technology. But they call it “financial services” for a reason: They have all of the same struggles as technology services companies—with the added complication of tons of regulatory requirements. MORE

Everyone uses a search engine! And yet, not everyone in marketing understands the difference between SEO, PPC, metatags and keywords. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click. MORE

As you might have guessed from my recent list of B2C marketing automation systems , I’ve recently been spending some time helping consumer marketers to select vendors. This is more a return than a departure: although I’ve written mostly about B2B systems for the past few years, my earlier work was largely in consumer marketing. Like any traveler, I’ve returned home with some new perspectives. Here are some observations - consumer marketers have to build databases; B2B marketers don’t. MORE

Another Advertising Week in New York is upon us and so far I have seen some great presentations from companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Quantcast, comScore, and even Yahoo! However, if there is one thing that is becoming painfully clear to me is the need to be relevant to your audience – whether you are advertising to them, being social with them, or just creating the right kind of conversations about your brand. MORE

In three plus years of tweeting, I’ve picked up what I perceive to be the general etiquette for engaging on Twitter. I’ve also done research asking B2B marketers how they engage and how they educate their employees and SMEs to engage. I’ve rolled all that up into an approach that I doubt constantly. I don’t seem to be alone. Lots of people seem to be having Twitter identity crises these days. MORE

I hate to be a purveyor of gloom, there’s too much of that around these days. But I’ve been thinking about this and want to share my thoughts with you. Here are some reasons content marketing is getting more challenging. There exists: A shift away from focusing on your products and services (what you know well). A shift towards the reader/customer and their needs (what you may not know very well). A business environment that is changing rapidly (what is unknown). MORE

B2B buyers are time deprived and risk averse – and also enormously well informed. They resent and ignore interruptive marketing approaches such as advertising and cold calling. They do their own research online, and then contact vendors and service providers when they’re ready to talk price. From the B2B seller side, ‘beating the bushes’, ‘cold calling’, ‘hunting’… whatever you call it, is less and less effective. MORE

by Jesse Noyes | Tweet this People don’t change, right? This fundamental assumption is often what stops potentially great marketers from seeing success. How could we ever convince anyone to change their entrenched habits? MORE

There is not a day that goes by in the life of a marketer that doesn’t have a headline that reads, “marketers struggle to find the ROI of social.” It is as if marketers are chasing down a unicorn that exists only in their imaginations. MORE

This is a forward looking opinion post on the potential future of digital marketing. The future of digital media is social. With the far-reaching tentacles of Google and Facebook, no digital marketer will be able to approach marketing without engaging in some form of social media. Today, companies can choose to ignore social media. Although they cannot stop the conversation, they can ignore the conversation that is happening elsewhere. In the future, social media will be harder to ignore. MORE

Marketing has changed drastically since I started almost 18 years ago. And if you speak to senior marketers and advertising agency heads they will generally agree that finding and keeping talented marketers is one of their toughest challenges. MORE

by Jesse Noyes | Tweet this Forget Hollywood horror films and haunted houses. Those working in B2B marketing have their own special blend of anxieties and fears. Things like typos in big campaigns, mis-fired tweets and screwed up presentations are enough to scare even the most competent marketer. MORE

Last week journalism professor Matt Waite wrote a blog post worrying about the typical defeatist reaction of journalism students when faced with a coding challenge, whether in HTML, JavaScript, or other language: “I can’t do this,” they tell him. This is impossible. I’ll never get this.” MORE

by Steven Woods | Tweet this There’s no doubt that social media has been a disruptive force on B2B marketing. Yet, many marketers struggle with how to use social media to go beyond awareness, to actually drive revenue. I’m here to tell you it’s not magic. MORE

Thou shalt not direct people to “Learn More.” ” “Learn more” is the worst possible call to action. It means absolutely nothing. Be specific, be tangible. What is it that you’re offering exactly? Thou shalt tell people What, Why, and How. MORE

Image by J. McPherskesen via Flickr As a follow-up to the article Influence of Buyer Perceived Value (BPV) on Buyer Behaviors and Decisions, offered is a perspective on how to implement a scorecard approach. MORE

Web presence optimization (WPO) is the art and science of being found online. As indicated in the masthead of my blog, it has both an explanational definition (The fusion of SEO, search marketing, social media, reputation management, content marketing and social PR) and a reasonal one (Being omnipresent on the web for the search phrase that uniquely describes you or your organization.) It’s the evolution of search engine optimization (SEO), or alternatively, SEO on steroids. MORE

When people ask me what I do, I usually give them my standard 15-second commercial; generate quality inbound leads and shorten sales cycles via lead generation, lead nurturing, and content marketing. I am also active on Google Plus. MORE

by Steven Woods | Tweet this There’s no doubt that social media has been a disruptive force on B2B marketing. Yet, many marketers struggle with how to use social media to go beyond awareness, to actually drive revenue. I’m here to tell you it’s not magic.

Thou shalt not direct people to “Learn More.” ” “Learn more” is the worst possible call to action. It means absolutely nothing. Be specific, be tangible. What is it that you’re offering exactly? Thou shalt tell people What, Why, and How.

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” ” – General Eric Shinseki, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff. The media landscape has evolved tremendously over the last quarter century.

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“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” ” – General Eric Shinseki, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff. The media landscape has evolved tremendously over the last quarter century.

This week I was asked to speak on a panel about social media to a group of B2B marketers in financial services. It was great getting the perspective of marketers outside of technology. But they call it “financial services” for a reason: They have all of the same struggles as technology services companies—with the added complication of tons of regulatory requirements.

As you might have guessed from my recent list of B2C marketing automation systems , I’ve recently been spending some time helping consumer marketers to select vendors. This is more a return than a departure: although I’ve written mostly about B2B systems for the past few years, my earlier work was largely in consumer marketing. Like any traveler, I’ve returned home with some new perspectives. Here are some observations - consumer marketers have to build databases; B2B marketers don’t.

Another Advertising Week in New York is upon us and so far I have seen some great presentations from companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Quantcast, comScore, and even Yahoo! However, if there is one thing that is becoming painfully clear to me is the need to be relevant to your audience – whether you are advertising to them, being social with them, or just creating the right kind of conversations about your brand.

Last week journalism professor Matt Waite wrote a blog post worrying about the typical defeatist reaction of journalism students when faced with a coding challenge, whether in HTML, JavaScript, or other language: “I can’t do this,” they tell him. This is impossible. I’ll never get this.”

As CMOs go full-force into planning mode for their 2012 marketing strategy , a recent report suggests that they are ill-prepared for the changes taking place in the larger business world. This is according to the Global Chief Marketing Officer survey from IBM.

In three plus years of tweeting, I’ve picked up what I perceive to be the general etiquette for engaging on Twitter. I’ve also done research asking B2B marketers how they engage and how they educate their employees and SMEs to engage. I’ve rolled all that up into an approach that I doubt constantly. I don’t seem to be alone. Lots of people seem to be having Twitter identity crises these days.

Image by J. McPherskesen via Flickr As a follow-up to the article Influence of Buyer Perceived Value (BPV) on Buyer Behaviors and Decisions, offered is a perspective on how to implement a scorecard approach.

It’s easy to get caught up in the buzz, and the hype, around social media. I’ve been working with many B2B companies to help them figure out when and how to use social media in their business. The answer is always a bit different depending on the product or service.

When people ask me what I do, I usually give them my standard 15-second commercial; generate quality inbound leads and shorten sales cycles via lead generation, lead nurturing, and content marketing. I am also active on Google Plus.

I have been struggling with this dilemma for months. When you talk to most marketers and even the majority of business people, they get that the web , social media , mobile devices and the content we place on these channels are all important factors in driving real business results.

by Jesse Noyes | Tweet this People don’t change, right? This fundamental assumption is often what stops potentially great marketers from seeing success. How could we ever convince anyone to change their entrenched habits?

Web presence optimization (WPO) is the art and science of being found online. As indicated in the masthead of my blog, it has both an explanational definition (The fusion of SEO, search marketing, social media, reputation management, content marketing and social PR) and a reasonal one (Being omnipresent on the web for the search phrase that uniquely describes you or your organization.) It’s the evolution of search engine optimization (SEO), or alternatively, SEO on steroids.

There is not a day that goes by in the life of a marketer that doesn’t have a headline that reads, “marketers struggle to find the ROI of social.” It is as if marketers are chasing down a unicorn that exists only in their imaginations.

When people ask me what I do, I usually give them my standard 15-second commercial; generate quality inbound leads and shorten sales cycles via lead generation, lead nurturing, and content marketing. I am also active on Google Plus.

Marketing has changed drastically since I started almost 18 years ago. And if you speak to senior marketers and advertising agency heads they will generally agree that finding and keeping talented marketers is one of their toughest challenges.

by Jesse Noyes | Tweet this Forget Hollywood horror films and haunted houses. Those working in B2B marketing have their own special blend of anxieties and fears. Things like typos in big campaigns, mis-fired tweets and screwed up presentations are enough to scare even the most competent marketer.

I hate to be a purveyor of gloom, there’s too much of that around these days. But I’ve been thinking about this and want to share my thoughts with you. Here are some reasons content marketing is getting more challenging. There exists: A shift away from focusing on your products and services (what you know well). A shift towards the reader/customer and their needs (what you may not know very well). A business environment that is changing rapidly (what is unknown).

This is a forward looking opinion post on the potential future of digital marketing. The future of digital media is social. With the far-reaching tentacles of Google and Facebook, no digital marketer will be able to approach marketing without engaging in some form of social media. Today, companies can choose to ignore social media. Although they cannot stop the conversation, they can ignore the conversation that is happening elsewhere. In the future, social media will be harder to ignore.

B2B buyers are time deprived and risk averse – and also enormously well informed. They resent and ignore interruptive marketing approaches such as advertising and cold calling. They do their own research online, and then contact vendors and service providers when they’re ready to talk price. From the B2B seller side, ‘beating the bushes’, ‘cold calling’, ‘hunting’… whatever you call it, is less and less effective.

The first step to great marketing is having a great marketing plan. However, not everyone bothers to plan – even though most agree that it is the foundation to successfully achieving your marketing objectives.